Hey Joanna
Yes the redness did itch but it was never an unbearable itch that many SD sufferer's speak of. I would actually describe my areas of redness as more of a tingling sensation. On top of the redness my flaking was ever bit as bad. After taking a shower my entire face used to almost look white from all of the dry flaking skin.
What are your symptoms Joanna? How is your digestion? How long have you been on the diet and what sups are you talking? I've tried many sups but as you stated, it's very difficult to determine what is helping and what is not. It could all be in my head but I feel the most effective supplements I've taken were MSM, L- Glutamine, and Zinc. I learned about this concoction here on this forum and it is supposed to help heal the intestinal walls. I do believe many if not all SD sufferer's have leaky gut syndrome which makes us prone to allergic reactions from many foods.
It is probably easier to tell you what I eat rather than what I cut out :)
Complex Carbs- Brown rice pasta, brown rice, buckwheat, and quinoa.
Veggies- Pretty much all veggies other than eggplant and bell pepper. I'm
confident these break me out so I don't take any chances with
them... It's all trial and error!
Protein- I eat virtually all proteins. I do not eat dairy and eggs. Eggs is a food
that is generally embraced by Candida diets but once again I'm 99%
they do my face no good.
Fruits- I eat a lot of berries and apples. On occasion I eat plums, apricots,
and kiwi's. One thing to note is you should always eat fruit on an
empty stomach. Either eat it first thing in the morning or an hour
before a meal or several hours after a meal. The last thing we want
is for our fruit to sit and ferment in our stomach (creating bloating,
gas, and pressure) while our meal is taking hours to digest.
Nuts- I generally only eat cashews and almonds. Peanuts are considered a
no no.
Liquids- I basically only drink water. Don't drink a ton of water with your
meals. This dilutes your digestive juices which results in poor
digestion.
Deserts- Believe it or not I make my own ice cream virtually every night.
I love sweets and was determined to find something I could eat
without any negative side affects. I started making my own ice
cream several months ago and I have a couple recipes that are out
of this world. Let me know if you want them. My wife and I
are currently experimenting with baked desserts. This has
been more challenging. Finding flours that we can eat while tasting
good hasn't been easy and stevia hasn't done so we'll at high
temps.
As far as skin care I make sure I wash my face everyday. For me, washing my face twice a day felt like it was a little abusive. I always wash my face at night because I believe the body is made to repair itself while sleeping. I've tried the ACV but it didn't seem to do all that much other than making my face more inflamed. I moisturize my face every night before I go to sleep and that it as far as my face regiment.
Let me know if you have any other questions